Acupuncture for the Treatment of Sports-Related Injuries in Athletes
Table of Contents
Let’s talk about Sports Injuries and Acupuncture
At Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center, I handle sports injuries with the highest level of care and genuine enthusiasm. Why? Because these are injuries I see often. These are the types of injuries that crop up while engaging in sports, weight training, or any kind of training, really. You don’t need to be a pro athlete to end up with this type of injury. In fact, most of the people I see are not waiting to be drafted into the NFL or NHL; they’re just regular people like you and me. Keep reading to learn more about these injuries and how I can help.
What is a Sports Injury?
A sports injury happens when you hurt yourself while playing sports or doing an exercise that exerts a good amount of body power. It can be something small like a twist or pull, or bigger, like a bone break or tear. Sports injuries usually occur because of a sudden hit. For example, doing the same move over and over again, pushing too hard when working out, or not using the right technique.
At Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center, I see people who have overexerted themselves while weight training or sports training, in general. This type of injury is especially bothersome because it gets in the way of life. You worked so hard to get your body to do a certain thing, and now this injury messes up your game, your practice routine, and even how you feel in general.
Here’s my advice: make sure you warm up the right way, keep yourself in good shape, go for walks daily, wear the right shoes and protective gear, and remember, you can always swing by the Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center for both preventive care and support if you happen to run into a sports injury.
Most Common Sports Injuries
These are some of the most common sports injuries out there. I’ve come across each one of these in my practice. I understand how much pain they can bring. But you know what? When people come to Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center and find the support they need, they often experience a mix of physical relief and mental ease. Let’s get into it.
Sprains and Strains
Sprains and Strains occur when you stretch or tear ligaments or muscles or tendons. Ligaments are like connectors between bone and bone, while muscles/tendons attach muscle to bone. Think about how crucial these parts are for your body. These injuries often result from sudden movements, overexertion, or not using the right technique.
Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow are injuries that happen when you do the same movements repeatedly. They can make the tendons in your forearm hurt and swell, and if you’ve experienced this, you know how painful it can be. Surprisingly, you don’t actually have to play tennis or golf to get these injuries – they can happen to folks who spend their days typing away in an office. It’s that repetition of the same motions that tends to trigger it.
Knee Injuries
Knee injuries come in many forms. It could mean things like tearing your ACL, having meniscus tears, or experiencing pain in the front of your knee (which is also known as patellofemoral pain syndrome). These injuries typically occur when you twist your knee, make a sudden stop, or something hits your knee.
Shin Splints
Ever felt a bit of an ache in the front part of your tibia, or what we call the shinbone? It’s not the best feeling, and it can hurt a fair bit. This often happens when you’ve been doing a lot of running or jumping without giving your muscles a good warm-up or wearing suitable shoes.
Ankle Sprains
Imagine this scenario: you’re getting into some active stuff, like playing a sport, and suddenly you twist your ankle – that’s when an ankle sprain can sneak up on you. It’s when the ligaments around your ankle get sprained and your ankle puffs up. Not a fun experience, to be honest!
Acupuncture for Sports Injury
Let’s take a look at the ways I can help you with regular acupuncture sessions
Relieve Pain and Discomfort
Acupuncture is recognized for its effectiveness in alleviating pain. At Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center, we’ll begin your treatment by talking about what’s bothering you. Then we’ll come up with a specific plan and start your treatment. By gently inserting thin needles into specific points on your body, it triggers the release of natural pain-relieving chemicals called endorphins. This can bring much-needed relief from the discomfort and soreness of your sports injury.
Reduce Inflammation
Many sports injuries come with inflammation, which stops the healing process in its tracks. Acupuncture regulates the body’s natural inflammatory response by promoting improved blood circulation and the release of natural anti-inflammatory chemicals.
Heal Naturally
Acupuncture supports your body’s natural healing mechanisms. By targeting specific acupoints, it enhances blood flow to the injured area, ensuring that essential nutrients, oxygen, and immune cells reach the site of your injury more efficiently. This accelerates the process of tissue repair and regeneration. In other words, you’ll heal more quickly in a natural, body-promoted way.
How Can Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center Help?
Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center gives you world class diagnosis coupled with acupuncture plus cutting-edge hands on treatment to quickly ease your pain. Once your pain levels are down I will guide you through a graduated movement strategy so you don’t have to keep coming back for the same issues. At Acupuncture Pain and Stress Center, I will piece the parts of your story together using our unique assessment that looks at your body as one. Here is how I do it.
- Discussion: I will investigate the cause of your problem and explain it in simple terms.
- Assessment: This will reveal the underlying dysfunction(s) and show why you are suffering from your pain.
- Treatment: I will ease your symptoms quickly using acupuncture and other hands-on techniques that quickly relieve your pain and improve function.
- Rehab: I will give you simple movements that you easily can fit into your busy day to improve recovery and give lasting relief. Your graduated movement strategy and pain treatments continue as needed to help you build your confidence in your body again so you can quickly get back to thoughtless, fearless, movement. Through this phase of treatment, I can add to the rehabilitation by focusing on specific things like working on speed, agility, flexibility, or strength.
- Freedom: I plan to make you so happy that you’ll actively tell your friends and family about us. You see, I have built our clinic on word of mouth referrals and I expect my clients to be so happy with the results that they tell their friends and family about me, so they too can get the help they need.
